People always refer to Armstrong/Ullrich incedents but seem to forget the travisty of Zulle. I beleive no time was lost after that day. The tour is cruel and a little luck always plays a part! I'm on the fence on this one although he (AC) could have stopped driving the pace on th DH into the finish if he really thinks he has the TT advantage. The debate over the DH skills and if AS would have hung are lame. The guy only lost 20 sec or so on the actual DH against a powerful group.

Sad day for Contador. If he had waited, he would have gained the respect of 99% of cycling fan.

Contador has won a few TDF's by beating everyone soundly but still didn't have the respect of the "cycling fans" here so I doubt that this incident would have made any difference.

There is no Dana, only Zulle.

Also, don't forget 2004 where USPS attacked a crash that not only involved a favorite (Mayo) but also the Yellow Jersey (Hushovd).

Nice play, Keymaster

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

You know...with the UCI's overriding attitude being that bicycle racing is about a competition of man against man and not about the machines (i.e. see "Lugano Charter), then I'm surprised that all mechanical failures aren't accompanied with a race neutralization... :-/

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

For those saying he should have stopped, where is there precedent in the history of cycling for holding up specifically for a dropped chain???

How is it not a comparable (did you miss where I said cycling basically seems to cherry picks this "code" of attacking)? We are talking about the "yellow" jersey. If the "yellow" jersey has the reponsibilty to handle the peloton even in the early stages (how often do we talk about Lance didnt want the yellow early because he didnt want his team to have that responsibility to control the race early on), I'm not sure you can cherry pick what the "yellow" jersey is.


AS certainly didnt feel "angered"/ashamed to get that 40 sec time gain did he over the yellow jersey and other (potential longer term) GC guys.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

I'm not aware of one but you're reading far too narrowly. The understanding is that you don't take advantage of bad luck. I am mystified by the distinctions some seem to be drawing between mechanical issues that are not the rider's fault (where they seem to argue one should wait), mechanicals that are the rider's fault (when it's apparently ok to attack), and crashes (when you should always wait).

Seriously?!

Bad luck is bad luck, a mechanical is a mechanical and they're almost always partly the rider's fault. Flat your front tire? Avoid the pothole. Melt the glue on your tire? Brake less.

Everyone seems to think it was right that the group waited for LA when he hooked that musette (ignoring whether or not they actually did wait for the time being), but watch the replay and he could have avoided the whole issue by riding six inches to his left in open road.

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"Are you sure we're going fast enough?" - Emil Zatopek

I'm with most people here that the crap that hammering ahead on stage 3 and neutralizing the race in stage 2 when they were in trouble, was just as much a dick move as what happened today. You can say Chavanel wasn't a contender but others that lost time from the move were.

Also, who's to say that a rider isn't a real contender; I know its rare but there are riders that just come out of nowhere and place well, ie Wiggins.

He wasn't shifting when the chain dropped.

[reply...... And he really rode like a complete pussy the last two days. He attacks with so little mountain left that even if AC counters he would have a hard time getting yellow, yet knowing all along he will only have 2 stages left to put time into AC that he needs come the final TT. Does AS really believe he can TT. He TT's as well as he puts his chain on. He's not riding to win the TDF despite what he says. He's riding to hold the yellow as long as he can. He rode like a pussy yesterday and today.[/reply]

Agree. This whole wait/no-wait debate is just noise. He already has a second from last year. Put the freaking hammer down. Your either going to crack AC and win the tour or not.

Can you imagine all the hate for AC that could have been erased had he waited? He would have gained so much in terms of respect. Very short sighted.

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Head down, thumbs up, give'r
@barrettdj

Not siding either way but as for the slowing down thing both AC and AS basically did track stands yesterday out there checking each other out at one point so the other would lead. just saying this as maybe AC thought AS was stopping for him to lead, or not. In either case I will wait to see the actual for my judgment; although 40s to put your chain on; did he put it back on or replace it????

S

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Banger

Heck, he almost could have swapped a crank in that amount of time ;-)

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Really. He could have stopped by the side of the road to rescue a baby from a burning house and most Americans and STers in particular would hate him just as much. It's been hard for fans at the end of an era, it always is. The king is dead, long live the king.

It takes him about 26 seconds to remount it twice the first 8 of which he's coasting trying to work out what's going on. It wasn't as bad as people make it sound (though he'd wish he'd got it done in one shot no doubt).

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"Are you sure we're going fast enough?" - Emil Zatopek

No it was not, but one could argue that he was not an overall contender, but thats another matter all together.

I doubt it. If he had waited, people would have just said he was tired, and was lucky Schleck dropped his chain...

People keep talking about some "code"...I know of no code that says you slow down when the race is at it's pivotal moment, basically the last 2K in the race where one can attack. Waiting in that situation would be ridiculous. And besides, it's Schleck's fault for not being able to shift his bike. At least that's what his team director thinks.

You need to look at that again...from the moto's viewpoint, he was clearly shifting with his right hand.

The bike is part of the race. Some people choose heavier components that are more reliable. Some people choose lighter components that are less reliable. Isn't this supposed to be called chess on wheels? If you make the wrong decision, why should your competitor have pity for you? Should they stop and wait if your leg is cramping up? Maybe they should slow down a little if your bike isn't quite as aero as theirs. This code stuff is crap.

I have watched in multiple times and he isn't shifting. You are wrong.

Can anyone show the vids from the different viewpoints? The Velonews highlight video doesnt really show close enough to actually see if he is shifting or not.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

Here's a link to the best YouTube video I can find highlighting the "incident." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcN2HrkrnF4 (pardon the German)

From this, I'm seeing two distinct events that determine the outcome of the wait/no wait debate.

1. Andy is attacking, Vino responds first, Contador starts givin'er - AC is not looking anywhere near AS when he goes past.

2. Andy looks to be shifting in the sequence leading up to the chain drop. Watch his right hand, he's riding SRAM so it's a very short action behind the brake lever but you can see the little wrist flicks that shifting SRAM creates. Does it happen a split second before the chain drops? Maybe not, but certainly in the seconds immediately prior to the chain drop. Almost immediately he tries to pick the chain back up with his left hand/front derailleur.

From the side view when his wheel bounces it looks to me like his chain gets sucked up into the chainstay. More likely though, that bounce was caused by him standing up and hammering while dropping the chain.

Ultimately this debate comes down to whether or not you believe what happened today was a the result of a "mechanical" or rider error. I completely support the gentleman's code in the TdF that you don't attack/win against a true contender when the contender is dealing with a bike issue/crash caused through no fault of his own. That's the honor in the sport (all drugs aside).

I don't see today's events unfolding as a result of mechanical. Andy shifted at the wrong time into the wrong gear or attacked in the wrong place or whatever combination was required to drop his chain. He was slow to put it back on. This happens in bike racing.

This situation is not too unlike when Lance popped out of his pedal twice in a short sequence in a previous tour on a similar climb. IIRC, Lance stated at the end of the stage his pedal was indeed broken. No one stopped for him then. They didn't even slow down. He just got up with the fire in his belly and rode himself back into the pack. The difference is he could. Apparently AS couldn't today.

I'm no fan of AC. I've been cheering for AS this whole tour. But IMO, AS's attitude/comments at the finish was as classless as AC's celebrating the move into the GC lead under unfortunate circumstances.

But it sure makes the next few stages more interesting doesn't it?

I just watched the Eurosport re run just to see what happend now when i know the outcome and AS i clearly shifting with his right hand.

http://video.eurosport.se/...d142780/videos.shtml

He was shifting...Riis said so in an interview.